Carnival Glory
11 Day Southern Caribbean Journeys Cruise - February 2, 2016
Itinerary
Tuesday - Feb 2 - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wednesday - Feb 3 - St. Croix
Thursday - Feb 4 - St. Maarten
Friday - Feb 5 - Dominica
Saturday - Feb 6 - Grenada
Sunday - Feb 7 - Sea Day
Monday - Feb 8 - Bonaire
Tuesday - Feb 9 - Aruba
Wednesday - Feb 10 - Curacao
Thursday - Feb 11 - Fun Day at Sea
Friday - Feb 12 - Fun Day at Sea
Saturday - Feb 13 - Miami, FL
Except for San Juan and St. Maarten, these were all new ports for us. And we were going to the infamous ABC Islands. Excited was an understatement! This was a port heavy cruise and we were flying in a day before to see more of San Juan. Let the planning commence!
This cruise was also one of Carnival’s Journeys cruises. According to Carnival: “Carnival Journeys is a limited series of special cruises that's made to amaze... starting with great destinations and an exciting entertainment lineup. Each Carnival Journeys voyage will include some special shipboard activities to provide a truly unique vacation experience.”
San Juan
We flew in to San Juan the day before our cruise. Even though our ship wasn’t departing until 10 pm, we didn’t want to risk any issues with flying in the day of. We booked a one night stay at the CasaBlanca Hotel in Old San Juan.
When researching things to do in San Juan we found out that Puerto Rico has the most bioluminescent bays in the world, with three. One is just outside San Juan in Fajardo. We booked the Bio Bay Tour through Eco Adventures for that evening. We had a great time and highly recommend kayaking on a bioluminescent bay (though Jay says he wants his own kayak if he does it again).
We enjoyed our stay at the quaint CasaBlanca Hotel. After having a late, leisurely breakfast, we headed to the pier to embark on Carnival Glory!
Embarkation Day
After getting on the ship, and having our first cocktail of the cruise, we always head to the spa to do the spa tour. This is so we can be entered in the spa raffle. Then we explored more of the ship and our cabin. At 5:15pm we headed back to the spa for the raffle, where we won a prize! We won a $75 spa credit. I know a lot of people aren’t fans of spa raffles for this reason specifically, by winning a credit you usually spend even more money. True. We figure it this way, we enjoy going to the spa for a massage on a cruise, so by winning a credit, we’re still spending less many than we had already planned.
After having dinner in the main dining room, we headed to our cabin to watch sailaway from our balcony. This was our first time cruising out of a port at night. Seeing the city of Old San Juan all lit up as we left was breathtakingly beautiful.
St. Croix
In St. Croix we booked a tour for each of us at the Cruzan Rum Factory.
After our tour we headed over to Sand Castle on the Beach where we had pre-booked day passes that included 2 chairs, 1 umbrella, and 2 rum punches for $25 (this offer is no longer available, but now they offer other packages). We spent most of our time at the beach, but we also had access to their pools with our pass. We had lunch from their on-site beachfront restaurant and then enjoyed some more time in the water. Soon it was time to head back to the ship.
St. Maarten
Since we’ve been to St. Maarten before we decided to do something different this time. We took a taxi to Orient Bay Beach, on the French side of the island. Orient Bay Beach is considered the most famous beach on the island.
After we got our fill of the sun, we headed back to the ship and went to the spa to use our credit for massages!
Dominica
For our time in Dominica we booked the Pool Falls & More Tour through Bumpiing Tours. After our ship docked in the capital city of Roseau, we got off and met our tour guide for the day. Our first stop was the Emerald Pool which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After a 15 minute walk into the rainforest we came upon a waterfall and the crystal-clear blue-green pool of water known as the Emerald Pool. We had plenty of time to take a dip and swim around before having to leave to continue our tour.
Our next stop was a local fruit stand. After sampling some delicious fruit, we headed for a stop at a scenic overlook of Roseau. We stopped to take a few pictures, double-checked to make sure the Carnival Glory was there waiting for us, and then off we were to Trafalgar Falls, one of Dominica’s most popular natural attractions. Our walk to the viewing platform took about 10 minutes where we then got a panoramic view of the twin waterfalls. After some time viewing the beautiful scenery, we headed back to Roseau and our cruise ship.
Grenada
In Grenada, we took the water taxi over to Grand Anse Beach where we spent time at Lazy Days. It was very low-key, but they offered beach chairs at a good price and had affordable beer and cocktails, so it was just what we were looking for. After our beach time we stopped at the Grand Anse Craft and Spice Market where we bought some nutmeg to bring home. Then we took the water taxi back to St. George’s and got back onto the ship.
Fun Day at Sea + Football!
Tonight’s big entertainment was the Super Bowl between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos! Carnival Glory had a Super Bowl Sailgate Party on the Lido deck before showing the football game in the Amber Palace theater and also on the Lido Deck. We chose to watch it in the theater, where we had so much fun watching the big game.
Bonaire
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the main dining room, then got off the ship to walk around before our afternoon tour. We saw La Cantina restaurant advertising a house beer, the Bonaire Blond. Being fans of craft beer, we had to try it! At 12:15pm we met up with our tour guide from Bonaire Vista Tours. We had pre-booked an island tour that included highlights of both the south and north parts of the island.
We headed south first, where we saw the impressive pink water and massive piles of Bonaire’s pristine salt – some of the purest in the world. Next we made a stop at 1000 Steps, where the beach has many impressive shades of blue and turquoise. This is a very popular spot for diving in Bonaire. Then we headed north to the famed Gotomeer, where we got to see flamingos in the lake. When our tour guided dropped us back off in Kralendijk, we walked around a craft market where we bought some souvenirs, including a hand-painted sign with a flamingo that says Bon Bini (welcome). The sign still hangs by our front door in memory of this lovely island.
Aruba
For Aruba, we decided to book all-inclusive day passes at the Occidental Grand Aruba hotel. We spent most of our time at the beach, splitting our time between the Bikini Beach Bar and the lovely water. We had lunch at the Beach Club Restaurant, then spent time in the pool. The swim-up Splash Pool Bar was very convenient! Soon it was time to head back to the ship, so we dried off and took a taxi back to port.
Curacao
We booked the East and West Full-Day Island Tour through Curacao Actief. We took at tour of the Curacao Liqueur Distillery and bought a bottle to bring home. We also visited the Queen Emma pontoon bridge and learned about the history and culture of the island. We had lunch at Jaanchie Restaurant where Jay braved the iguana soup. In the afternoon we spent time at a beach before heading back to Willemstad. We walked around the port area and did some shopping before getting back on the Carnival Glory.
Throwback Sea Day
Today was the Carnival Journeys’ Throwback Sea Day & Formal Night! Some of today’s entertainment was inspired by the iconic events of Carnival Cruise Line’s ‘80s era including roll-the-dice horse racing, aquafrog racing, the Formal Captain’s Cocktail Party, and the Midnight Buffet. The throwback events were described on a separate sheet of paper designed like the old Carnival Capers.
Farewell Day at Sea
On the first day of our cruise we stopped by Alchemy Bar and asked if we could sign up for the Mixology Class after reading about it on Cruise Critic. Ours was scheduled for the last sea day. We had a great time learning to make three Alchemy Bar cocktails with our mixologist, Brian. We highly recommend it and will ask about it on future Carnival Cruises.
That evening we used our VIFP Appreciation Drink Coupons for a final cocktail from Alchemy before one last dinner in the main dining room. We walked around the ship for awhile before heading back to our rooms and seeing the saddest site you can see on a cruise ship, suitcases lined up waiting to be picked up for debarkation. We put out our room service order forms for the morning and got ready for our final sleep onboard the Carnival Glory.
Miami
Our room service breakfast was delivered promptly. We ate quickly while getting dressed and trying not to be sad (those post-cruise blues hit fast). We grabbed our suitcases for Self Debark and got in line to get off the ship. Soon we were through Customs and outside waiting for our Uber back to Fort Lauderdale.
We had no plans yet for our next cruise, but knew it wouldn’t be long until the waves were calling our names once again. Until then, happy cruising!
